Narrative songs

[RobertaTheGreat]

They played 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' by the Charlie Daniels band on the radio the other day, which obviously got me furiously playing my air fiddle, and also got me thinking about other narrative songs, and how songs that tell a story don't seem to be such a thing anymore. They were quite popular back in the day but I can't think of many modern ones. So what are your favourites/least favourites? That's chart songs, not songs from musicals.

Another one I thought of, that became an ear worm yesterday, is the Pina Colada song - which provides a lesson for us all 😄

I love Hazard, it's one of my favourites.

Oh, and I forgot '32 down on the Robert MacKenzie' by Paul Gross - a little treasure for anyone who's ever loved Due South.

I wasn't expecting that by Jamie Lawson is a relatively recent one. Graham Norton used to have a segment on his radio show about these songs, tune with a tale. It was great.

@Wilbedon

I love narrative songs. There are a lot of country songs that tell stories. "Harper Valley PTA" is a famous one. "Tell Laura I love Her", "Austin", "The Baby", "Ol' Red", "Don't Take the Girl" "Whiskey Lullaby".

I love the Harper Valley PTA song. My mother was a young, attractive widow in the 70s, raising 4 of us, and was subject to a lot of gossip and prejudice (one rumour being she was a nude model - no idea where that came from!). She learned how to stand up for herself but it was tough.

@Dotinthecity

Don’t You Want Me Baby by The Human League? Does that count?

Yeah, that counts 😊

The Levellers- fifteen years

'Tie A Yellow Ribbon' of course! What a classic!

The Eagles - Hotel California

Chris Rea-Driving home for Christmas

Just thought of 'Jilted John' , by Jilted John.

The ballad of Lucy Jordan

Under Your Thumb by Godley and Creme.
Bat Out Of Hell by Meatloaf.
Long Black Veil by Roseanne Cash.

The Ballad of Lucy Jordan- Marianne Faithfull

Liven' on a prayer by Bon Jovi.
Janie's got a gun by Aerosmith

All I wanna do by Heart, that´s one I always remember!

Ooh I have a few:

Livin' for the City, by Stevie Wonder: that has a good story and a great song too.

Another is The Killing of Georgie, by Rod Stewart?! not a huge fan of Rod Stewart, but it's quite a good song with a storyline.

Local Boy in the Photograph by Stereophonics, or anything from their first album meets the criteria of a song with a narrative.

All I Wanna Do - can't remember the artist, but she's trying to get pregnant by a stranger 🤔 (who is very handsome and a great shag obviously)

Babushka- Kate Bush

The Stereophonics have loads of narrative songs, A thousand trees, local boy in the photograph, more life in a tramps vest, Billy Davy's daughter, Mr. Writer, have a nice day...

Biggie Smalls, Warning

I love these sort of songs. I’d add
Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue’s “The Wild Rose” and it’s underappreciated b-side (back when songs had a b-side) “The Ballad of Betty Coltrane”.
If you haven’t heard them, google. They are brilliant.

Jenny again (Tunng)
If you get there before I do (Collin Raye)
Ohio (Damien Jurado)
Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt)
Beeswing (Richard Thompson)

Now I think of it, they mostly aren't completely cheerful stories.

Love a narrative song. Me and my DD call them story songs and have a play list of them for the car blush that's lovely, and something she'll always remember. My (adult) DC remember me singing songs like 'The Ugly Duckling', 'The Little White Bull' and 'The Lincolnshire Poacher' in the car. Their friends used to ask me to sing them. At the time I thought they liked to hear them but thinking about it I was probably a bit of a joke to them 😔

Oh dear, I cry horribly every time I hear 'Stan', and crying whilst listening to Eminem is not recommended!

Has anyone mentioned 'Sister of Mercy' by the Thompson Twins yet?

Not really suitable for a story song playlist that's family friendly though.

I remember driving with DD (about 10 at the time) when "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" came on the radio.
She got really involved in the narrative (I was relieved that I knew it was a happy ending) and was overjoyed when the bit about: "and now the whole damn bus is cheering and I can't believe I see... etc" came on.

It's still one of her favourite songs.

Don't know if it's been mentioned (I did scan the thread) but I heard "Green, Green Grass of Home" as a child which really gave me the shivers.

The wonderful Harry Chapin. Died too young. His songs are narrative songs. I wish I could do links.